Fiji Sugar Corporation’s CEO, Graham Clark says he will comment on FSC’s latest figures when questioned on the Corporation’s performance and plans following the $80.1 million operating loss for the 2019 financial year compared to a loss of $24.6 million in the previous year.
Clark says their 2020 annual report is to be released shortly and it would be better to comment then.
According to the FSC’s 2019 Annual Report, the Corporation’s share of proceeds was $38.8 million compared to $54.2 million in the previous year.
Clark had said the FSC was affected negatively by the damage caused by tropical cyclones Josie and Keni and this led to consequences for their cane development resulting in a crop harvest of 1,697,370 tonnes against a pre-crush estimate of 1,863,700 tonnes.
He says another attributing factor towards the decline in harvest was the substantial drop in total area harvested which stood at 37105 ha, a decrease of 1875 ha from 2017 actual area harvested.
He says there was severe flooding at both the Rarawai and Labasa Mills, affecting maintenance of plant and equipment.
Sugar production also reduced to 160,204 tonnes compared to 180,388 tonnes in the previous year.
The 2019 report further states the total sugar exported was 111,844 tonnes compared to 144,398 tonnes in the previous year.
